1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a V-type engine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 55(1980)-114845, there is disclosed a V-type engine in which a pair of V-arranged banks are mutually displaced in the axial direction of the crankshaft so as to provide spaces at a location axially ahead of one bank and at a location axially behind the other bank, and auxiliary mechanisms for the engine to be driven by the crankshaft are separately disposed in the spaces. With this arrangement, the overall size of the engine can be reduced. However, this arrangement is disadvantageous in that an oil-return passage having a sufficient cross-sectional area for oil from the upper surface of the cylinder head cannot be formed in the cylinder block since the end surfaces of the cylinder block are stepped, i.e., the front end and the rear end of one bank are respectively displaced axially from those of the other bank. This leads to poor recovery of oil. This is a significant problem particularly in a V-type overhead-camshaft engine in which a large amount of oil is fed to the cylinder heads.